Revising the Standards

During the fall of 2018, The Forum’s Standards Manager and the Chair of the Forum Council formed the Standards Update Working Group. The Forum intentionally selected members to represent voices from diverse regions, institution and organization types, and constituents. The Forum released a Notification of Standards Development on October 11, 2018. To ensure even wider and more diverse representation, The Forum hosted a series of online listening sessions over the next six months, scheduled at different times of day. One listening session happened at The Forum’s European Conference in Prague, Czech Republic, in October 2018, and another at The Forum’s Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA, in March 2019. The Forum collected information from any constituents who could not attend the listening sessions via a submission form available on the organization’s website.

The Forum aligned the revision process with the core principles of due process for standards development as identified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI): Openness, Lack of Dominance, Balance, Coordination and Harmonization, Consideration of View and Objections, Consensus, and Appeals. This included a public comment period on the first draft of the 6th Edition and the formation of a Consensus Body with a diverse membership. In this way, persons directly or materially affected by the Standards had the opportunity to have their voices heard in this important process.

After two rounds of voting and revision, consensus (42 affirmative votes; 1 negative vote) was reached by the Consensus Body on October 18, 2019. Following the appeals period, the 6th edition of the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad takes effect July 1, 2020.